OK I’m not sure what to do here but a fellow blog fan/ sponsor/PR Guru suggested to me to suggest some ideas to the bored, sexually repressed, moneyless traveller. Have a look to see what you can do while they wait for the cash to roll in, see the below.

NOTE – If you can think of more add them to the comment section below

Free Activities

• Re-inact TV shows, i.e pretend someone is Gok Wan and dress another traveller in others’ clothes or Championship Boxing (this may cause an actual fight) or Do “Ready, Steady, Cook” with whatever crap you guys have left in the fridge *only do this during the quiet period of the kitchen rota, unless you want Ready, Steady and Boxing to combine!
• See how many different accents you can do in 60 seconds, if you get people from all over the world it makes it even funnier.
• Go to a Museum or Library, you also get FREE Wi-Fi, culture and books (3-4-1)
• Take a long Walk around the city/town/barn you are in
• If you are Black or of dark skin – go to a tanning salon and ask for a top up tan for a free laugh and shock value!
• Head to a beach or swimming pool
• Surf the net for FREE music, theatre or open mic nights, you may discover the next Kaiser Chiefs or if they are bad you might discover another 8th place runner up for X-factor. Be warned you might see me trying to attempt stand up
• If you have an instrument, go next to a busker and have a sing off/ battle (who says you need a Wii for this stuff), you may discover a partnership
• Go on Buzzfeed and complete all the quizzes they have (http://www.buzzfeed.com/) , by the time you are done you would have all your personality traits assesed and go mental about your persona. Even worse you’ll go mental and write a blog like this
• Ring your parents, they might actually miss you…… (they might send cash if you say how bored you are)
• If your hostel has board games, play all of them simultaneously, be warned if you drop the top hat from Monopoly on the operation board, you lose both games! Or just set up mousetrap and just watch the ball go round, its quite fun!
• Count how many druggies there are in a square 1/2 KM, if its more than 10, you’re either in a really fun area or you need to move … quickly!!
• look for online paid surveys, earn some cash while you wait for the other cash to roll in.
• Look up free episodes & podcasts you might discover something new!
• I suggest to everyone, download Marvel or DC comics app and just look at the artwork, even you hate comics just appreciate someone drew that and how detailed it is. kinda makes you think when you call a reality tv star “talented”
• Watch a documentary on TV, might as well get some education before you kill the brain cells with beer
• Read a book……. a cookbook counts as well
• Be an Intern in a cool job (magazine, video games maker,publisher, porn studio etc)
• Go to an Improv class
• If you are a comedy fan, Watch SNL skits on Youtube and see how many times they f up the lines. (Jimmy Fallon is No 1 so far)
• Take your camera and find the most obsecure thing and add to Instragram , I’m bored of seeing beautiful scenery and people in every update I see (Username maloweuk will be pleased)
• See how many 80s or 90s Cartoons you can name in 2 mins
• Go to as many hostels as you can in a day and get free drinks and play their games
• Help an old person across the road, anything over 40 will do, you might get money or a date if you are lucky and/or desperate
• If you are gay, go on your mobile app arrange a meet where you DON’T play hide the sausage (good luck sluts)
• Go to a real estate agency in your best garments and request to see the best houses they have available, might as well go to toilet in a nice house.
• If hungry, go to the market, bottle shops & superstores and get as many free samples as possible . And if its not cooked properly you have a law suit on your hands and more cash coming your way.
• Be a child again, play hide and seek, eye spy or better yet if there’s someone you fancy in the hostel, KISS CHASE!!
• Skype anyone who is online, might as well catch up with that weirdo you added years ago after a random night out for a surprise conversation.
• Research your next stop of your travels, you’d be surprised the amount of times you forget to do this. Might save you a “Woodduck” incident (see Cairn, Cairns blog for that reference)
• Check out the student/traveller agencies for free events
• Cut your hair, you look a bit scruffy…
• If under 25, look up things from 70s & 80s for travel stories and how things were, you might be shocked.
• Clean your hostel room, jeez there are some people who forget all decency when they leave mummy and daddy’s place. Pick your 10 day old bra up, PRINCESS!!!
• Go on a photobomb mission and ruin as many family photos as possible!
• Go on a 80s film montage and have dress up in as many stores as possible and do the Julia Roberts laugh everytime you go in a jewellery store
• go to bars and “Shazam” all the tunes you want to download
• Befriend a geeky traveller who has a computer and hard drive and watch something with them
• If you’re like me and you’ve downloaded loads of iPad apps you rarely use, go through ALL of them, you might be surprised how much of them are crap and just play pacman again for 30 mins
• Look up Pacman if under 21
• If low on funds, get as many people together to get as many goons, beers, bottles as possible and do all the above in a drunken whirlwind of fun. (Don’t get arrested)

Jobs / Working Abroad

Yes it’s me again, come back to offer more redundant information and above average comedy. So, this time last year I would be sat in an office, wondering if my contract would be rolling, what bar to meet a friend in and why I was in an office in the first place, when I should be in the bar?!?!

Since ~I had that thought in my head I started to wonder about other travellers and friends I had met and what could I do to help and also use my last month on the site for and I thought of this.

Why not have a job section!?!?!? (Woohoo, responsibility and mundane tasks are fun)

So for all you out there I thought I’d give some background on how you get jobs as it occurred to me that although the culture and working is the same, it not quite the same to find what you want, please don’t thank me, just donate funds to the section below (I’m not joking)

Let us begin!

Office Work-

Now I’m going get this out the way, gays and ladies prepare yourself for this but Aussies are even hotter in suits, there’s something about a nasally, arrogant and handsome man that gets you eager to go to work! Oh, the amounts I fantasied about having your buttcheeks photocopied 68 times while embraced by a sales rep, SNAP and back in the room, I digress you need to look in the following sites:

www.seek.com.au – general job website

www.maars.com.au – Media Jobs

www.kpmr.com.au –Media & digital jobs

www.jobs4traveller.com.au – can have the odd office job but you need to pay for membership (why pay to find something so you can get paid!?!?)

www.bunac.com – Might as well do visa/accom/job in one (again at a cost….booooo!)

www.linkedin.com – basically Facebook for people who like to get a job and eye rape their new colleagues. Still handy though.

Be warned you will get a bit of jib for being a traveller and wanting office jobs but as long as you have a good background and education you’ll be fine, tight trousers and low cut tops are a bonus that includes guys since men’s fashion has somehow gotten gayer!! A nice plunging, silky soft neckline for a muscled man, ummm, just no. Again to give more redundant advice Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane are your main stops for office stuff. The main business area is the CBD and North Sydney for offices and multinational companies who are more inclined to pick international people.

Farming

Good lord, even typing those 7 letters makes me grin and shudder simultaneously. So if you fancy being surrounded by brown snakes, banana spiders and hunky German supervisors then get yourself to these sites:

www.gumtree.com.au- tip make sure you read the ad carefully, you basically need to get a base rate and bucket bonus, there’s a few scammers out there!

www.jobsearch.gov.au/harvesttrail or ring 1800 062 332 for National Harvest Service – harass them every day and you’ll get something, be prepared with your car ad boots to go!!!

www.workaway.info – if you’re not really there for money but want somewhere that pays for everything else, try here, you can meet nice people and not have to spend a thing.

peterpans/happytravels/indietravel and other travel companies will have sign up deals

Also thanks to the ever lovely and resourceful YAK, I have a list of farmers within the Queensland area which I will happily give out but you’ll need to email me if you need it, I rather not post them and have heaps of farmers track me down with pitchforks, AGAIN!

As for New Zealand, A cool friend of mine gave me a little case study, you might find this useful or you might think I was too lazy to do research, either way, read it!!!

“I was working on a mixed farm, they farmed deer, beef, sheep, dairy and arable and my roles were general labourer/tractor driver jobs. For example I helped out with the sheep when they were brought in to the shed and wormed (can elaborate more on the jobs involved if need be). I found the job going through a friend who had worked there previously. If I had not had this contact would have needed to go through Agriventure as it was part of my uni degree. The team I worked with were a great bunch of people. Highlights were simple things such as having a beer in the woolshed on a Friday night with the rest of the crew. Or finishing work and being able to go down to the river and fishing/shooting. Bad experiences would include getting stuck on a bad piece of machinery (not suitable for the conditions) and the bosses not taking me off it/replacing it.
I was being paid $16.00 NZ an hour with no overtime. a house came included with this including all water electricity etc. my standard work day varied a lot depending on the time of year what i was doing. My scheduled day was usually 7-5 with a total of 1hr break (half an hour for lunch and two 15 minute breaks) but sometimes in the summer my total hours for the week would be well over 100″

Hospitality/Nursing Jobs

Again this goes the same way as Farming but doesn’t give you major points when trying to get your second year visa, but if you just want a job for a few months, these are perfect

www.mlkarecruitment.com.au – good jobs for hospitality jobs included some for live in work

Also if you are stuck for cash just check with any hostel that you’re at for jobs, you should be able to find something as people are always coming and going.

Bar work

I can’t recommend sites just get out there, get some resumes printed, 20 bucks and have a good walk around and drink, just had the resumes in before you drink. No one wants a drunken working at a bar, it like getting a nun at a porno shoot, pointless!

make sure you get your RSA & RSG before you apply if you actually want a bar job, its bit pointless if you have no intention! (www.onlinersa.com.au)

Fun Jobs

If you don’t fancy walking in the sun in suit, being harassed by nature or cleaning up hotels instead of sleeping in them, then check these.

www.seek.com.au – look for promotional / fundraising jobs good for handing out free stuff and being on a stand looking gormless 🙂

http://www.agency888.com.au – tv and film extra, based in Brissy/Gold Coast

Hopefully this mini guide has helped you, I will return for more updates and case studies, big thanks to YAK and D.Meeson for the information. You will now go to heaven!

Also big thank you to the ladies and gents @ Ooh!Media you were awesome to work with and wish I was back there now!!